1922 - The Greatest Comeback in History in a Year of Return to Normalcy (sort of):
1922 was a year that saw the trend toward hitter both ratify itself as the new reality of baseball and moderate its intemperate beginnings of 1921 just a bit, and also saw a bit of novelty in the pennant races.
We just missed either an all-Ohio or all-New York World Series: from May all the way up to the very last week of the season not more than a game ever separated the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, and not more than 2 games separated the New York Giants and the Cincinnati Reds.
In the end, the Cincinnati Reds won the National League pennant by 4 games over New York, and then won the World Series by 4 games to 3 over New York, in the pennant race it was the Giants, and in the World Series the Yankees, that fell to the Ohio River boys. The Great Lakes Ohio team, the Indians came up just 3 games short in the end behind the 95-59 Yankees and the Reds finished with 98 wins and a World Championship.
The hitters’ fest continued as Mr. Rogers Hornsby hit .414 to lead the majors and Mr. George Sisler hit .398 to lead the Junior Circuit. Hornsby won the National League Triple Crown, batting in 142 runs and ending up with 39 home runs – one more than Mr. George Herman Ruth who fell back to earth from Mount Olympus with a mere 38, up to last year a record-shattering performance, but now merely good enough for the AL home run crown. Pittsburgh’s Max Carey stole 61 bases, just to let us know that someone recalls how the game used to played long ago – that is up until the end of the war and the Black Sox Scandal. Otherwise, you would think that it was Judge Landis – excuse me, Commissioner Landis, who was actually doing the pitching.
Except that real big league pitchers still managed to turn in a few really good performances on the season despite the new balance of power in baseball – Cincinnati’s Dolf Luque went 21-10 with a major league best 2.18 ERA and his teammate Eppa Rixey won 28 games, most in the majors, with a 2.83 ERA for the World Champions. The great Walter Johnson – you remember him – won 24 and lost 8 with a 2.92 ERA and the Senators threatened all season long to make it a 3-way race in the AL but Washington ended up a respectable third 7 games behind the Yankees. Mr. Johnson has now, in a career that began way back in 1907, won 313 and lost 202, and his lifetime ERA is a mere 2.29. He has struck out 2806 batters in that time, and that is more than anyone ever.
The Reds won by hitting but with only doses of power – no Red hit more than 7 home runs, but four hit more than .340: Roush, Hargrave, Duncan and Daubert. The Giants, who stayed right behind the Reds all the way to the end, had a whole lineup of .300 hitters: High-Pockets Kelly hit .339 with 23 home runs, Irish Meusel hit.317 with 16 homers, Ross Youngs hit .349 and Casey Stengel .320.
The Indians were powered by Tris Speaker who hit .358 with 9 homers and two great pitchers: Stan Coveleski and George Uhle who won 49 games between them.
But the greatest story of the year was the greatest come-from behind victory ever in the World Series.
Bob Shawkey and Waite Hoyt stopped the Reds’ hitting in the first two games – Shawkey shut them out 5-0, and Hoyt outpitched Johnny Couch 4-3 in game 2. Back in New York, Bob Meusel had three hits including a triple and second baseman Aaron Ward hit a home run and New York blasted Cincinnati 11-1.
New York was up 3 games to none. It sure seemed time to stick a fork in the Reds. But the great Luque outpitched Shawkey in game 4 by 4-2, and then Pete Donahue outpitched Waite Hoyt by 3-1 in game 5. It was now 3-2 Yankees in the Series, which shifted back to Cincinnati.
Game 6 was a an all-time classic: Eppa Rixey against Bullet Joe Bush for the Yankees and it went into the 11th inning all tied 1-1 when with one out, Whitey Witt reached second base for New York on an error by Reds’ shortstop Ike Caveney. Babe Ruth was wisely walked intentionally, but with Bob Meusel up, Rixey threw a wild pitch to advance the runners. So Meusel too was walked intentionally. A sacrifice fly by Wally Pipp got a run in and the Yankees led 2-1 with just three outs needed to win the World Series.
The Reds opened the bottom of the 11th with a single by third baseman Sam Bohne. The Yankees brought on Sad Sam Jones to pitch and Jake Daubert walked on four pitches. Pat Duncan singled to load the bases. Still no one out. George Burns then singled in two runs to win it and tie the Series at 3 games apiece !
Game 7 saw the third round between Luque and Shawkey, with each pitcher having one won game so far in the Series for their team. One would have to win a second game to win it all. Shawkey helped his own cause out by tripling and scoring a run in the fifth and it stayed 1-0 New York into the bottom of the 8th inning. Pinelli walked with one out in the Reds’ half of the 8th, Bressler walked to put two men on with Luque due up. Luque bunted the runners to second and third, with two out. So two out, two on and the Series riding on the shoulders of Sam Bohne, who singled both runs in for a 2-1 Reds lead. In the 9th, Meusel struck out swinging, Elmer Smith grounded out and with two down Home Run Baker gave New York one last hope with a single. But Jumpin’ Joe Dugan grounded out to short and the Cincinnatis were champions, having come all the way back from down 3 games to none to win four straight – a feat that may never be matched if baseball is still played in a hundred years’ time !
Babe Ruth had to accept the MVP award in the AL as his only compensation for a second World Series loss in two years, and Hornsby naturally won it in the NL. Luque deservedly received the Mathewson Award for best pitcher in the National League, and Walter Johnson won the Rube Waddell Award in the AL. Cubs’ left fielder Hack Miller hit .379 with 20 home runs and and Topper Rigney of the Tigers hit .321 to be the Rookies of the Year for 1922.
A return to normalcy? It would appear so, even if the shift in favor of the hitter, either because rumors of a more tightly wound ball or some other reason is at work, so long as it leaves room for pitchers of Luque’s and Walter Johnson’s qualities.